Autonomous aerial vehicle assisted viewing location selection for event venue

ABSTRACT

A processing system including at least one processor may collect, via at least one camera of at least one autonomous aerial vehicle, viewing information for a plurality of positions for each of a plurality of viewing locations within an event venue. The processing system may next present a viewing location selection interface to a user, where the viewing location selection interface provides a simulated view with respect to at least one of the plurality of positions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations, and where the simulated view is based upon the viewing information that is obtained. The processing system may then obtain a selection from the user of a viewing location of the plurality of viewing locations for an event at the event venue.

The present disclosure relates generally to autonomous aerial vehicleoperations, and more particularly to methods, computer-readable media,and apparatuses for collecting via an autonomous aerial vehicle viewinginformation for a plurality of positions for a plurality of viewinglocations within an event venue and presenting a viewing locationselection interface that provides a simulated view with respect to atleast one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewing information thatis obtained.

BACKGROUND

Current trends in wireless technology are leading towards a future wherevirtually any object can be network-enabled and addressable on-network.The pervasive presence of cellular and non-cellular wireless networks,including fixed, ad-hoc, and/or or peer-to-peer wireless networks,satellite networks, and the like along with the migration to a 128-bitIPv6-based address space provides the tools and resources for theparadigm of the Internet of Things (IoT) to become a reality. Inaddition, drones or autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) are increasinglybeing utilized for a variety of commercial and other useful tasks, suchas package deliveries, search and rescue, mapping, surveying, and soforth, enabled at least in part by these wireless communicationtechnologies.

SUMMARY

In one example, the present disclosure describes a method,computer-readable medium, and apparatus for collecting via an autonomousaerial vehicle viewing information for a plurality of positions for aplurality of viewing locations within an event venue and presenting aviewing location selection interface that provides a simulated view withrespect to at least one of the plurality of positions for at least oneof the plurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewinginformation that is obtained. For instance, in one example, a processingsystem including at least one processor may collect, via at least onecamera of at least one autonomous aerial vehicle, viewing informationfor a plurality of positions for each of a plurality of viewinglocations within an event venue. The processing system may next presenta viewing location selection interface to a user, where the viewinglocation selection interface provides a simulated view with respect toat least one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, and where the simulated view is basedupon the viewing information that is obtained. The processing system maythen obtain a selection from the user of a viewing location of theplurality of viewing locations for an event at the event venue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teaching of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system related to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates example scenes of an autonomous aerial vehicleidentifying candidate projection areas and selecting a candidateprojection area as a projection zone for projecting informational datafrom the autonomous aerial vehicle, in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for collecting viaan autonomous aerial vehicle viewing information for a plurality ofpositions for a plurality of viewing locations within an event venue andpresenting a viewing location selection interface that provides asimulated view with respect to at least one of the plurality ofpositions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations, basedupon the viewing information that is obtained; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example high-level block diagram of a computingdevice specifically programmed to perform the steps, functions, blocks,and/or operations described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Examples of the present disclosure describe methods, computer-readablemedia, and apparatuses for collecting via an autonomous aerial vehicleviewing information for a plurality of positions for a plurality ofviewing locations within an event venue and presenting a viewinglocation selection interface that provides a simulated view with respectto at least one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewing information thatis obtained. In particular, examples of the present disclosure relate toan autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) operating at an event venue that mayuse onboard sensors to collect data related to specific viewinglocations (e.g., seats and/or seating locations, locations for stand-upviewing, viewing boxes, wheelchair-accessible viewing locations, etc.).The data may be used to aid in configuring the event venue and forseating selection for the purchase of tickets. For instance, in oneexample, images may be captured for a plurality of positions at eachviewing location (e.g., different images for several heights, e.g., twofeet above a seat, or above the floor, the ground, etc., five feetabove, 5.5 feet above, six feet above, 6.5 feet above, etc.). In oneexample, the number of positions may approximate representative seatingand standing views for a variety of people of different heights. In oneexample, audio data may also be record at each viewing location for atleast one of the plurality of positions. The viewing and other data maythen be used to improve a patron's ability to understand an expectedexperience when choosing viewing locations for an event at the eventvenue.

To further illustrate, a sensor-equipped AAV may be used to sense andrecord conditions at every viewing location at a venue. For instance,the AAV may be equipped with microphones, still cameras, video cameras,thermometers, light sensors, and other sensors. The AAV may be incommunication with a viewing location management system, e.g., an eventticketing and reservation system with a database relating to eachviewing location for each event. For instance, the AAV may maintain asession via a wireless access point or other network connections. TheAAV may access a location mapping of every viewing location in thevenue. The mapping precision may permit the AAV to define its own flightpath so that every viewing location may be visited. At each viewinglocation the AAV may navigate itself to several positions, e.g., heightsrepresenting typical eye levels of different sized people for bothsitting and standing. The flight path may include every seat or it mayinclude only selected seats to obtain a representative sampling ofviewing information (e.g., one or more images, a video clip, or thelike). The images or video clips for each position for each viewinglocation, along with simulated patron heights, may be stored in aviewing location database.

In one example, for outdoor venues, the AAV may also capture images atdifferent times of the day and different days of the year. These images,along with indications of the time and/or date may also be stored in theviewing location database and may be provided to patrons in connectionwith making viewing location selections for various events. Forinstance, some patrons may be interested to know which seats may be insunlight vs. shade on a sunny day in the middle of the hot summer tohelp make a seat selection. In one example, a venue owner or operator,an event producer, or the like may also vary the price of sunny vs.shady seats. In one example, the AAV may be dispatched to empty seats orother viewing locations during actual events of various types to captureimages and/or video to provide representative views of different eventtypes. For instance, a view from a particular seat in an arena may beperceived differently for a hockey event versus a basketball eventversus a concert, and so forth.

In one example, the AAV may further be used to test sound levels of thevenue's speaker system. For instance, test audio may be played over thespeaker system while the AAV traverses a flight path. The AAV mayreceive the test audio via one or more microphones and may record soundmeasurements including intensity, such as in decibels; frequency, andother measures may also be recorded. The measured level(s) may becompared against expected level(s) and adjustments may be made to thespeaker system to make corrections. The test audio sensed by the AAV mayalso be analyzed by the AAV or sent to a controller of the speakersystem to identify echo, sound clarity, and other sound qualitycharacteristics that may be used in the speaker system adjustments. Inone example, the test audio level (or actual samples of the test audio)may also be stored in the viewing location database. This may be used,for example, if the venue is a theater for hosting an orchestra where itmay be useful to include sound levels and quality as an elementinforming a patron's viewing location selection. In one example, the AAVmay also record a video of an event, perhaps a rehearsal. The video maybe analyzed to determine where motion occurs over time and representvarious levels of density of motion over the course of the entire event.

The collected AAV sensor data may be used to improve the viewinglocation selection experience and expectations of a patron. Forinstance, a patron may use a device to access a reservation applicationor website (e.g., a component of the ticketing and reservation system orin communication with the ticketing and reservation system). Using theAAV-collected sensor data in the viewing location database, theticketing and reservation system may present an improved simulation ofthe experience that the patron may expect during the event. Forinstance, the patron may enter his or her own height to improve theaccuracy of a simulated view that may be presented for the patron. Forinstance, the reservation system may use the patron's stated height toprovide the best match of AAV-captured images for a viewing locationthat the patron is interested in. In addition, the ticketing andreservation system may collect data from other reservations that havealready been made to permit the patron to have a better understanding ofwho would be seated in the area around a particular viewing locationcurrently being viewed/considered by the patron. For example, otherpatrons who have reserved seats may have included data with theirreservations that may be stored in the viewing location database, suchas their heights, team preferences, types of fan, and other descriptors.These data and others may be used by the ticketing and reservationsystem to present a simulated view of the viewing location and itssurroundings. For instance, one or more AAV-captured imagescorresponding to the patron's seating and/or standing heights at theviewing location may be provided via a viewing location selectioninterface of the reservation application or website of the ticketing andreservation system to the patron, which may also be enhanced withsimulated audience members based upon the heights or other data providedby these other patrons. In one example, the simulated patrons maycomprise silhouettes or avatars representing generic individuals. Inanother example, the simulated patrons may comprise AI-generatedrepresentation of patrons of particular heights, fan base type, etc.(e.g., using a generative adversarial network (GAN)-based generator, forinstance).

In addition, the patron may optionally login to the ticketing andreservation system via one or more social networking applications or mayprovide a social network identifier when accessing the reservationapplication or website. In this case, the ticketing and reservationsystem may have access to identifiers of the patron's friends andconnections. In one example, if any known contacts have existingreservations, they may also be displayed in a simulated view for aparticular viewing location (and/or for other viewing locations that mayalso be considered by the patron). In one example, sound qualityinformation may also be included in the viewing location selectionprocess (and in one example, as a factor in viewing location pricing).Similarly, a motion heat map may be presented to the patron to use asanother factor in viewing location selection, as a representation ofvisibility from a candidate viewing location as it relates to wheremotion (e.g., actions of team players in a sports event) is expected tooccur during the event.

In one example, an event venue may provide patrons coming to an on-sitebox office/ticket office with AAV assisted real-time or near-real-timeviews from different viewing locations. For instance, a patron may beinterested in a particular seat. The event venue owner or operator, oran event producer may then allow the patron (or site personnel assistingthe patron), via an on-site user interface device, to cause an AAV to bedispatched to a viewing location that is selected by a patron, obtaincurrent viewing information of at least one position at the viewinglocation (e.g., at a height, or seating/standing heights of the patron),and providing the current viewing information via a viewing locationselection interface. Thus, the patron may obtain a timely view of theactual event in progress (or about to begin) from the considered viewinglocation). These and other aspects of the present disclosure arediscussed in greater detail below in connection with the examples ofFIGS. 1-4 .

To aid in understanding the present disclosure, FIG. 1 illustrates anexample system 100, related to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.1 , the system 100 connects user device 141, server(s) 112, server(s)125, and autonomous aerial vehicle(s) (AAVs 160), with one another andwith various other devices via a core network, e.g., a telecommunicationnetwork 110, a wireless access network 115 (e.g., a cellular network),and Internet 130. It should be noted that multiple AAVs 160 can bedeployed in accordance with the present disclosure but only one AAV 160is shown in FIG. 1 for clarity purposes.

In one example, the server(s) 125 may each comprise a computing deviceor processing system, such as computing system 400 depicted in FIG. 4 ,and may be configured to perform one or more steps, functions, oroperations for collecting via an autonomous aerial vehicle viewinginformation for a plurality of positions for a plurality of viewinglocations within an event venue and presenting a viewing locationselection interface that provides a simulated view with respect to atleast one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewing information thatis obtained. For instance, an example method for collecting via anautonomous aerial vehicle viewing information for a plurality ofpositions for a plurality of viewing locations within an event venue andpresenting a viewing location selection interface that provides asimulated view with respect to at least one of the plurality ofpositions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations, basedupon the viewing information that is obtained is illustrated in FIG. 3and described below. In addition, it should be noted that as usedherein, the terms “configure,” and “reconfigure” may refer toprogramming or loading a processing system withcomputer-readable/computer-executable instructions, code, and/orprograms, e.g., in a distributed or non-distributed memory, which whenexecuted by a processor, or processors, of the processing system withina same device or within distributed devices, may cause the processingsystem to perform various functions. Such terms may also encompassproviding variables, data values, tables, objects, or other datastructures or the like which may cause a processing system executingcomputer-readable instructions, code, and/or programs to functiondifferently depending upon the values of the variables or other datastructures that are provided. As referred to herein a “processingsystem” may comprise a computing device, or computing system, includingone or more processors, or cores (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 4 anddiscussed below) or multiple computing devices collectively configuredto perform various steps, functions, and/or operations in accordancewith the present disclosure.

In one example, server(s) 125 may comprise an event venue managementsystem, which in one example may include a seating database, areservation and ticketing system, and an AAV management system. Forinstance, server(s) 125 may receive and store information regardingAAVs, such as (for each AAV): an identifier of the AAV, a maximumoperational range of the AAV, a current operational range of the AAV,capabilities or features of the AAV, such as maneuvering capabilities,payload/lift capabilities (e.g., including maximum weight, volume,etc.), sensor and recording capabilities, lighting capabilities, visualprojection capabilities, sound broadcast capabilities, and so forth. Inone example, server(s) 125 may direct AAVs in collecting viewinglocation data and providing real-time viewing location visual feeds toindividuals or groups of people, as described herein.

In one example, server(s) 125 may store detection models that may bedeployed to AAVs, such as AAV 160, in order to detect items of interestbased upon input data collected via AAV sensors in an environment. Forinstance, in one example, AAVs may include on-board processing systemswith one or more detection models for detecting objects or other itemsin an environment/space/area. In accordance with the present disclosure,the detection models may be specifically designed for detecting venueseats, viewing boxes, locations for stand-up viewing, wheelchairaccessible viewing locations, etc. The MLMs, or signatures, may bespecific to particular types of visual/image and/or spatial sensor data,or may take multiple types of sensor data as inputs. For instance, withrespect to images or video, the input sensor data may include low-levelinvariant image data, such as colors (e.g., RGB (red-green-blue) or CYM(cyan-yellow-magenta) raw data (luminance values) from aCCD/photo-sensor array), shapes, color moments, color histograms, edgedistribution histograms, etc. Visual features may also relate tomovement in a video and may include changes within images and betweenimages in a sequence (e.g., video frames or a sequence of still imageshots), such as color histogram differences or a change in colordistribution, edge change ratios, standard deviation of pixelintensities, contrast, average brightness, and the like. For instance,these features could be used to help quantify and distinguish plasticseats from a concrete floor, metal railings, etc.

As noted above, in one example, MLMs, or signatures, may take multipletypes of sensor data as inputs. For instance, MLMs or signatures mayalso be provided for detecting particular items based upon LiDAR inputdata, infrared camera input data, and so on. In accordance with thepresent disclosure, a detection model may comprise a machine learningmodel (MLM) that is trained based upon the plurality of featuresavailable to the system (e.g., a “feature space”). For instance, one ormore positive examples for a feature may be applied to a machinelearning algorithm (MLA) to generate the signature (e.g., a MLM). In oneexample, the MLM may comprise the average features representing thepositive examples for an item in a feature space. Alternatively, or inaddition, one or more negative examples may also be applied to the MLAto train the MLM. The machine learning algorithm or the machine learningmodel trained via the MLA may comprise, for example, a deep learningneural network, or deep neural network (DNN), a generative adversarialnetwork (GAN), a support vector machine (SVM), e.g., a binary,non-binary, or multi-class classifier, a linear or non-linearclassifier, and so forth. In one example, the MLA may incorporate anexponential smoothing algorithm (such as double exponential smoothing,triple exponential smoothing, e.g., Holt-Winters smoothing, and soforth), reinforcement learning (e.g., using positive and negativeexamples after deployment as a MLM), and so forth. It should be notedthat various other types of MLAs and/or MLMs may be implemented inexamples of the present disclosure, such as k-means clustering and/ork-nearest neighbor (KNN) predictive models, support vector machine(SVM)-based classifiers, e.g., a binary classifier and/or a linearbinary classifier, a multi-class classifier, a kernel-based SVM, etc., adistance-based classifier, e.g., a Euclidean distance-based classifier,or the like, and so on. In one example, a trained detection model may beconfigured to process those features which are determined to be the mostdistinguishing features of the associated item, e.g., those featureswhich are quantitatively the most different from what is consideredstatistically normal or average from other items that may be detectedvia a same system, e.g., the top 20 features, the top 50 features, etc.

In one example, detection models (e.g., MLMs) may be deployed in AAVs,to process sensor data from one or more AAV sensor sources (e.g.,cameras, LiDAR, and/or other sensors of AAVs), and to identify patternsin the features of the sensor data that match the detection model(s) forthe respective item(s). In one example, a match may be determined usingany of the visual features mentioned above, e.g., and further dependingupon the weights, coefficients, etc. of the particular type of MLM. Forinstance, a match may be determined when there is a threshold measure ofsimilarity among the features of the sensor data streams(s) and an itemsignature. In the present disclosure, locations for stand up viewing mayhave designated markings on the ground such that these locations arevisually identifiable and may have an associated detection model thatmay detect such locations from images captured from AAV imaging sensors(and similarly for wheelchair accessible viewing locations). In oneexample, an AAV, such as AAV 160, may utilize on-board detection modelsin addition to a venue map of viewing locations, a GPS unit, andaltimeter, e.g., to confirm the AAV 160 is in a correct viewing locationto capture viewing information from a plurality of positions (e.g.,different heights at the viewing location).

In one example, the system 100 includes a telecommunication network 110.In one example, telecommunication network 110 may comprise a corenetwork, a backbone network or transport network, such as an InternetProtocol (IP)/multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network, where labelswitched routes (LSRs) can be assigned for routing Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP)/IP packets, User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/IP packets, andother types of protocol data units (PDUs), and so forth. It should benoted that an IP network is broadly defined as a network that usesInternet Protocol to exchange data packets. However, it will beappreciated that the present disclosure is equally applicable to othertypes of data units and transport protocols, such as Frame Relay, andAsynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). In one example, the telecommunicationnetwork 110 uses a network function virtualization infrastructure(NFVI), e.g., host devices or servers that are available as host devicesto host virtual machines comprising virtual network functions (VNFs). Inother words, at least a portion of the telecommunication network 110 mayincorporate software-defined network (SDN) components.

In one example, one or more wireless access networks 115 may eachcomprise a radio access network implementing such technologies as:global system for mobile communication (GSM), e.g., a base stationsubsystem (BSS), or IS-95, a universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS) network employing wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA),or a CDMA3000 network, among others. In other words, wireless accessnetwork(s) 115 may each comprise an access network in accordance withany “second generation” (2G), “third generation” (3G), “fourthgeneration” (4G), Long Term Evolution (LTE), “fifth generation” (5G), orany other existing or yet to be developed future wireless/cellularnetwork technology. While the present disclosure is not limited to anyparticular type of wireless access network, in the illustrative example,base stations 117 and 118 may each comprise a Node B, evolved Node B(eNodeB), or gNodeB (gNB), or any combination thereof providing amulti-generational/multi-technology-capable base station. In the presentexample, user devices 141, and AAV 160 may be in communication with basestations 117 and 118, which provide connectivity between AAV 160, userdevice 141, and other endpoint devices within the system 100, variousnetwork-based devices, such as server(s) 112, server(s) 125, and soforth. In one example, wireless access network(s) 115 may be operated bythe same service provider that is operating telecommunication network110, or one or more other service providers.

For instance, as shown in FIG. 1 , wireless access network(s) 115 mayalso include one or more servers 112, e.g., edge servers at or near thenetwork edge. In one example, each of the server(s) 112 may comprise acomputing device or processing system, such as computing system 400depicted in FIG. 4 and may be configured to provide one or morefunctions in support of examples of the present disclosure forcollecting via an autonomous aerial vehicle viewing information for aplurality of positions for a plurality of viewing locations within anevent venue and presenting a viewing location selection interface thatprovides a simulated view with respect to at least one of the pluralityof positions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations,based upon the viewing information that is obtained. For example, one ormore of the server(s) 112 may be configured to perform one or moresteps, functions, or operations in connection with the example method300 described below. For instance, telecommunication network 110 mayprovide an AAV management system, e.g., as a service to one or moresubscribers/customers, in addition to telephony services, datacommunication services, television services, etc. In one example,server(s) 112 may operate in conjunction with server(s) 125. Forinstance, server(s) 112 may manage a fleet of AAVs that are availableon-demand and may be requested to perform tasks for a variety ofclients, while server(s) 125 may represent a seating database, areservation and ticketing system, etc., e.g., operated by the eventvenue 190. It is noted that this is just one example of a possibledistributed architecture for an AAV fleet management system and/or anetwork-based AAV support service. Thus, various other configurationsincluding various data centers, public and/or private cloud servers, andso forth may be deployed. For ease of illustration, various additionalelements of wireless access network(s) 115 are omitted from FIG. 1 .

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , user device 141 may comprise, for example, acellular telephone, a smartphone, a tablet computing device, a laptopcomputer, a head-mounted computing device (e.g., smart glasses), awireless enabled wristwatch, or any other wireless and/orcellular-capable mobile telephony and computing device (broadly, a“mobile device” or “mobile endpoint device”). In one example, userdevice 141 may be equipped for cellular and non-cellular wirelesscommunication, such as 4G/Long Term Evolution-based cellularcommunication, 5G cellular communications, Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 based communications (e.g., Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Direct), IEEE 802.15 based communications (e.g., Bluetooth,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and/or ZigBee communications), and so forth.

In accordance with the present disclosure, AAV 160 may include a camera162 and one or more radio frequency (RF) transceivers 166 for cellularcommunications and/or for non-cellular wireless communications. In oneexample, AAV 160 may also include one or more module(s) 164 with one ormore additional controllable components, such as one or more:microphones, loudspeakers, infrared, ultraviolet, and/or visiblespectrum light sources, projectors, light detection and ranging (LiDAR)units, temperature sensors (e.g., thermometers), a global positioningsystem (GPS) unit, an altimeter, a gyroscope, a compass, and so forth.

In addition, AAV 160 may include an on-board processing system toperform steps, functions, and/or operations in connection with examplesof the present disclosure for collecting via an autonomous aerialvehicle viewing information for a plurality of positions for a pluralityof viewing locations within an event venue and presenting a viewinglocation selection interface that provides a simulated view with respectto at least one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewing information thatis obtained. For instance, AAV 160 may comprise all or a portion of acomputing device or processing system, such as computing system 400 asdescribed in connection with FIG. 4 below, specifically configured toperform various steps, functions, and/or operations as described herein.

In an illustrative example, the event venue 190 may utilize at least AAV160 to navigate to each viewing location within the event venue 190 tocapture viewing information (e.g., camera images, video clips, audioclips, or the like, which may include panoramic images and/or video, 360degree images and/or video, etc.) from a plurality of differentpositions (e.g., heights or elevations). In one example, AAV 160 may beprovided with instructions for traversing at least a portion of theevent venue 190 and capturing viewing information for a plurality ofpositions for each of the viewing locations therein. In addition, AAV160 may be provided with a viewing location map of the event venue withmarked/identified locations of different viewing locations. AAV 160 maynavigate itself to such locations using an on board GPS unit, mayutilize an altimeter or the like to navigate to variouspositions/heights at such locations, and so forth. In one example, themap may comprise a 3D map (e.g., a LiDAR generated map/rendering of theenvironment of the event venue 190) containing markers of seatlocations. Using its own LiDAR unit and collecting LiDAR sensor data,AAV 160 may verify its position within the event venue 190 and navigateto one or more marked viewing locations in accordance with such a map.Alternatively or in addition, AAV 160 may traverse the event venue 190and may detect and identify different viewing locations via collectionof sensor data via on-board sensors (in this case, one or more of LiDARsensor data, optical camera sensor data (e.g., images and/or video, orthe like), and applying the sensor data as input(s) to one or moredetection models for detecting seats, viewing boxes, stand-up viewinglocations, wheelchair accessible viewing locations, etc. In one example,the instructions and/or the map of the event venue 190 may be providedby or via the server(s) 125. For instance, server(s) 125 may be operatedby or associated with the event venue 190. A venue owner or operator, anevent producer, or the like may control server(s) 125 and may cause theserver(s) 125 to provide the map to AAV 160, to instruct AAV 160 tocommence viewing information collection at various viewing locations,etc.

For instance, as shown in FIG. 1 , AAV 160 may approach a seat (section227, row F, seat 2) at the event venue 190 in accordance with theinstructions and the map of the event venue 190. The AAV 160 may thennavigate itself to each of the positions/heights A, B, C, and D, andcapture viewing information at each position/height. Although only fourheights are illustrated, it should be understood that visual informationmay be captured for any number of positions/heights at a given viewinglocation. It should be noted that AAV 160 may repeat this procedure forany number (or all) of the viewing locations at the event venue 190. TheAAV 160 may store the captured viewing information, recording theparticular viewing locations and positions/heights for each suchcaptured viewing information, and may provide all of the captured andstored data, e.g., to server(s) 125 at the end of a flight session.Alternatively, or in addition, AAV 160 may stream captured viewinginformation, along with labels of the viewing location andposition/height for each such captured viewing information, on anongoing basis as such data is collected during the flight session. Inone example, AAV 160 may cover all viewing locations and positions ofthe event venue 190 in multiple flight sessions (e.g., a single batterymay not permit the AAV to complete the entire event venue 190). Inanother example, as noted above, multiple AAVs may be dispatched at asame time or at different times, where each may be assigned a respectiveportion of the viewing locations for multi-position collection ofviewing information (e.g., at multiple heights).

In one example, AAV 160 may also, at each viewing location, collectaudio information via at least one microphone of AAV 160 for at leastone of the plurality of positions. For instance, the audio informationmay comprise a recording of sample music, a short recording from a priormusical event or other events (e.g., crowd noise, announcements, etc.from a sporting event, or the like), and so forth. The audio informationmay similarly be stored and/or provided to server(s) 125 and/orserver(s) 112 to be stored in a record for the viewing location in aviewing location database.

After viewing information (or other data, such as audio information) fordifferent positions (e.g., heights) at different viewing locations isobtained via AAV 160 and/or other AAVs, server(s) 125 and/or server(s)112 may then provide a viewing location selection interface thatprovides a simulated view with respect to at least one of the pluralityof positions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations,wherein the simulated view is based upon the viewing information that isobtained. FIG. 2 , discussed in greater detail below, illustrates anexample viewing location selection interface in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

As noted above, an event venue may offer patrons real-time AAV-capturedviews of available viewing locations (e.g., for an event already inprogress or starting soon and for which audience members are alreadybeing seated, team players are already warming up on the field, ororchestra musicians seating are already set on a stage, etc.). Toillustrate, in FIG. 1 , patron 140 having user device 141 may approachthe event venue 190. In one example, the patron 140 may be enabled toaccess a real-time AAV-assisted viewing location selection interface viaa website or application of the event venue (e.g., a ticketing andreservation system) when the user device 141 is detected to be near orat the event venue 190. For instance, the application or website mayobtain permission of the patron 140 to track the location of the userdevice 141 for purposes of granting access to the real-time AAV-assistedviewing location selection interface. Via the interface, the patron 140may select a viewing location that the patron 140 is interested inpurchasing (or upgrading to if the patron already has a lower costticket) and may select to have an AAV, such as AAV 160 navigate to theviewing location to provide a real-time or near-real time view (e.g.,from one or more still images and/or a video feed). In one example, AAV160 may also provide an audio sample or audio feed captured at the sametime at the viewing location. Thus, the patron 140 may have a betteridea of what the view may be from one viewing location versus anotherbased upon the current conditions (e.g., other audience members in thevicinity, sun/shade profile, distance to stage or event action, audioinformation, etc.). Similar to the foregoing examples, the patron 140may provide his or her height, and the AAV 160 may specifically positionitself at the seating and/or standing height of the patron 140 to obtainthe real-time viewing information. In another example, the same or asimilar service may be provided via a kiosk or via a device of a staffmember of the event venue 190, e.g., at an on-site ticket office/boxoffice. In one example, patrons may be limited to a maximum number ofreal-time AAV-assisted seating views for any particular event, e.g., toensure that other patrons have an opportunity to utilize this resource.The real-time view provided by AAV 160 may be similar to the simulatedview of the example of FIG. 2 (however, with actual other audiencemembers instead of simulated audience members).

The foregoing illustrates just one example of a system in which examplesof the present disclosure for collecting via an autonomous aerialvehicle viewing information for a plurality of positions for a pluralityof viewing locations within an event venue and presenting a viewinglocation selection interface that provides a simulated view with respectto at least one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewing information thatis obtained may operate. In addition, although the foregoing example isdescribed and illustrated in connection with a single AAV 160, a singlepatron 140, etc., it should be noted that various other scenarios may besupported in accordance with the present disclosure.

It should also be noted that the system 100 has been simplified. Inother words, the system 100 may be implemented in a different form thanthat illustrated in FIG. 1 . For example, the system 100 may be expandedto include additional networks, and additional network elements (notshown) such as wireless transceivers and/or base stations, borderelements, routers, switches, policy servers, security devices, gateways,a network operations center (NOC), a content distribution network (CDN)and the like, without altering the scope of the present disclosure. Inaddition, system 100 may be altered to omit various elements, substituteelements for devices that perform the same or similar functions and/orcombine elements that are illustrated as separate devices.

As just one example, one or more operations described above with respectto server(s) 125 may alternatively or additionally be performed byserver(s) 112, and vice versa. In addition, although server(s) 112 and125 are illustrated in the example of FIG. 1 , in other, further, anddifferent examples, the same or similar functions may be distributedamong multiple other devices and/or systems within the telecommunicationnetwork 110, wireless access network(s) 115, and/or the system 100 ingeneral that may collectively provide various services in connectionwith examples of the present disclosure for collecting via an autonomousaerial vehicle viewing information for a plurality of positions for aplurality of viewing locations within an event venue and presenting aviewing location selection interface that provides a simulated view withrespect to at least one of the plurality of positions for at least oneof the plurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewinginformation that is obtained. In still another example, severs(s) 112may reside in telecommunication network 110, e.g., at or near an ingressnode coupling wireless access network(s) 115 to telecommunicationnetwork 110, in a data center of telecommunication network 110, ordistributed at a plurality of data centers of telecommunication network110, etc. Additionally, devices that are illustrated and/or described asusing one form of communication (such as a cellular or non-cellularwireless communications, wired communications, etc.) may alternativelyor additionally utilize one or more other forms of communication. Forinstance, in one example, server(s) 125 may communicate with AAV 160,such as for assigning tasks to AAV 160, monitoring for task completion,etc. via a wireless access point (AP) 122. For instance, server(s) 125may be owned or operated by the same entity owning or controlling theevent venue 190, and may have one or more wireless access points, suchas AP 122, deployed throughout the event venue 190. Thus, communicationsbetween server(s) 125 and AAV 160 may not traverse any networks externalto the entity. For instance, AP 122 and AAV 160 may establish a sessionvia Wi-Fi Direct, LTE Direct, a 5G D2D sidelink, a DSRC session/pairing,etc. Thus, these and other modifications are all contemplated within thescope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example viewing location selection interface 200in accordance with the present disclosure. For instance, the viewinglocation selection interface 200 may be presented to a user, or patron,accessing a ticketing and reservation system of event venue 190 of FIG.1 via a user device. For instance, the viewing location selectioninterface 200 may be presented via a dedicated application for theticketing and reservation system, may be presented via a web browseraccessing a webpage for the ticketing and reservation system, or thelike.

In the example of FIG. 2 , the viewing location selection interface 200may include area or zones in which various information is presented,such as a user information area 210, a ticketing and reservation systemidentification area 220, a seat selection button 230, a seat purchasebutton 240, an event information section 250, a seat price section 260,and a current seat and view information zone 270. The user informationarea 210 may display user information, such as a user height and/orother information, such as a preferred team, a user name, etc. In oneexample, the user information area 210 may also be selectable via a userinterface to change any of the information therein. In this case, a usermay have previously input at least his or her height information (e.g.,5 feet 11 inches tall). The ticketing and reservation systemidentification area 220 indicates the provider of the ticketing andreservation system (which may also provide the viewing locationselection interface 200 thereof), e.g., ABC Stadium. In one example,this may be the same as the event venue 190 of FIG. 1 . It should benoted that although examples of the present disclosure are describedherein primarily in connection with a same entity owning/controlling theevent venue, collecting the visual information of different positions ofvarious viewing locations via one or more AAVs, and providing eventticketing and reservations for the event venue, in other, further, anddifferent examples, different entities may perform and/or provide thesedifferent aspects. For instance, one entity may, with the permission ofthe event venue owner, collect viewing information from variouspositions of various viewing locations, while yet another entity mayprovide ticketing and reservations for one or more events at the eventvenue (e.g., a third-party ticket distributor or reseller, or the like).

The event information section 250 provides information on the event thata user may be searching for tickets and/or reservations, in this case abaseball game between Team A and Team B at 1:30 PM on Saturday Aug. 3,2021. The current seat and view information zone 270 indicates that theuser is currently viewing a particular seat: section 227, row F, seat 2.In addition, the current seat and view information zone 270 indicatesthe user is currently viewing the visual information (in viewing area280) from a perspective of a height of 5 feet 11 inches (e.g., standingheight for the user). The visual information in viewing area 280 forthis height/position may be one of a set of different visual informationcaptured by UAV 160 of FIG. 1 from different heights/positions at thesame viewing location (i.e., at section 227, row F, seat 2). In oneexample, current seat and view information zone 270 may also beselectable via a user interface to change the position/heightinformation. For instance, the viewing location selection interface 200may initially present viewing information in viewing area 280 from theperspective of the standing height of the user. However, this may bechanged via a selection from the user to any other availablepositions/heights for the particular viewing location. If the user issatisfied with this seat and the view, as well as the price indicated inthe seat price area 260, the user may reserve the seat by selecting theseat purchase button 240. If not, the user may choose the “select adifferent seat” button 230, which may cause a different interface screento be provided, e.g., with an overview map of the event venue 190, orthe like, from which the user may choose another seat. Alternatively,the viewing area 280 may change to an overview map or the like tosimilarly allow the user to select a different seat.

Notably, the viewing information presented in the viewing area 280 maycomprise a simulated view comprising the viewing information that isobtained (e.g., a camera image), which is modified to include asimulation of audience members at the event, based upon a plurality ofreservations of different viewing locations within the event venue. Forinstance, as discussed above, patron information may be collectedvoluntarily from other users/patrons (e.g., height information and/orother information) in connection with prior viewing locationreservations that have been made for the same event. As such, thesimulated view may include simulated audience members corresponding toviewing locations and user/patron information associated with such priorreservations. For instance, in the example of FIG. 2 , it can be seenthat the anticipated view from section 227, row F, seat 2 for a 5 foot11 inch standing user is a nearly clear view of most of the event (thereare minor possible obstructions of view from other audience members afew rows ahead and to the left and right of the center view from theviewing location). Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure allow apurchaser to obtain a great deal of viewing perspective information fora particular seat prior to purchase, thereby alleviating the frustrationor uncertainty of not knowing the viewing quality of a particular seatprior to purchase.

It should be noted that the foregoing is just one example of a viewinglocation selection interface in accordance with the present disclosure.Thus, other, further, and different examples may be provided havingdifferent buttons or zones, different layouts, different types ofinformation presented, and so forth. In addition, although a simulatedview is shown with simulated audience members, in another example,simulated views may alternatively or additionally be provided withoutsimulated audience members. For instance, a user may prefer to have aview that does not include such simulation. In still another example,there may be insufficient data collected regarding other audiencemembers, or there may be an insufficient number of prior reservations.In these or other scenarios, in one example, a simulated audience may begenerated based upon a prediction or forecast of a crowd, e.g., basedupon past crowds/audience members for similar events. Thus, these andother modifications are all contemplated within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 for collectingvia an autonomous aerial vehicle viewing information for a plurality ofpositions for a plurality of viewing locations within an event venue andpresenting a viewing location selection interface that provides asimulated view with respect to at least one of the plurality ofpositions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations, basedupon the viewing information that is obtained. In one example, steps,functions and/or operations of the method 300 may be performed by adevice or apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 1 , e.g., by one or more ofserver(s) 125 and/or server(s) 112, or any one or more componentsthereof, or by server(s) 125 or servers 112, and/or any one or morecomponents thereof in conjunction with one or more other components ofthe system 100, such as elements of wireless access network 115,telecommunication network 110, AAV 160, and so forth. In one example,the steps, functions, or operations of method 300 may be performed by acomputing device or processing system, such as computing system 400and/or hardware processor element 402 as described in connection withFIG. 4 below. For instance, the computing system 400 may represent anyone or more components of the system 100 that is/are configured toperform the steps, functions and/or operations of the method 300.Similarly, in one example, the steps, functions, or operations of themethod 300 may be performed by a processing system comprising one ormore computing devices collectively configured to perform various steps,functions, and/or operations of the method 300. For instance, multipleinstances of the computing system 400 may collectively function as aprocessing system. For illustrative purposes, the method 300 isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with an exampleperformed by a processing system. The method 300 begins in step 305 andmay proceeds to optional step 310 or to step 320.

At optional step 310, the processing system may provide a viewinglocation map of an event venue and instructions to the at least one AAVto collect viewing information for a plurality of positions (e.g.,heights) for each of a plurality of viewing locations within the eventvenue.

At step 315, the processing system collects, via at least one camera ofat least one AAV, viewing information for the plurality of positions foreach of the plurality of viewing locations within the event venue. Forinstance, the plurality of viewing locations may comprise seats, viewingboxes, locations for stand-up viewing, wheelchair-accessible viewinglocations, and so forth. In addition, as noted above, for each of theplurality of viewing locations, the plurality of positions may comprisea plurality of viewing heights. In one example, the at least one AAV maybe configured to identify viewing locations via at least one detectionmodel for processing imaging sensor data and detecting at least one typeof viewing location. In another example, the AAV may navigate inaccordance with the viewing location map and a GPS unit and altimeter ofthe AAV. Alternatively, or in addition, the map may comprise a 3D LiDARgenerated map with markers for viewing locations thereon. The AAV maythus utilize its LiDAR unit to detect its location in space using the 3Dmap and its current LiDAR readings and to navigate to a destinationviewing location for viewing information collection.

In one example, step 315 may further include collecting via at least onemicrophone of the at least one AAV, audio information for at least oneof the plurality of positions for each of the plurality of viewinglocations within the event venue. For instance, the audio informationmay comprise a recording of sample music, a short recording from a priormusical performance or other event (e.g., crowd noise, announcements,etc. from a sporting event, or the like), and so forth.

At optional step 320, the processing system may obtain a plurality ofreservations of different viewing locations. In one example, optionalstep 320 may include obtaining sizing information of a plurality ofaudience members associated with the plurality of reservations.

At optional step 325, the processing system may obtain sizinginformation from the user according to a user consent (e.g., at least aheight of an individual who is likely to occupy each particular seat,e.g., a user may purchase four seats for his or her family and the usermay also specify each occupant's height for each of the four seats). Forinstance, the user may input this information via a user interface, suchas viewing location selection interface 200. Alternatively, or inaddition, the user may elect to have this information stored from aprior reservation for use in making the current or future viewinglocation selections.

At step 330, the processing system presents a viewing location selectioninterface to the user, where the viewing location selection interfaceprovides a simulated view with respect to at least one of the pluralityof positions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations, andwhere the simulated view is based upon the viewing information that isobtained. In one example, the at least one of the plurality of positionsfor the at least one of the plurality of viewing locations is selectedfor the user in accordance with the sizing information of the user. Inone example, the at least one of the plurality of positions comprises atleast two positions, where the at least two positions comprise astanding height of the user and a calculated seated height of the user.In addition, in one example, the simulated view may comprise asimulation of audience members at the event, based upon a plurality ofreservations of different viewing locations within the event venue thatmay be obtained at optional step 320. For instance, the simulated viewmay include simulated audience members having sizes corresponding to thesizing information of the plurality of audience members (e.g., with thesimulated audience members being included in the simulated view atlocations corresponding to the different viewing locations of therespective reservations). In addition, in one example, the viewinglocation selection interface may further provide audio information forthe at least one of the plurality of viewing locations that may becollected at step 315.

At step 335, the processing system obtains a selection from the user ofa viewing location of the plurality of viewing locations for the eventat the event venue. For instance, the user may choose to reserve aparticular viewing location for which a simulated view is presented atstep 330. For example, the user may select a button such as the seatpurchase button 240 of FIG. 2 .

At optional step 340, the processing system may reserve the viewinglocation for the event in response to the selection. For instance, theprocessing system may mark the viewing location as “unavailable” in aviewing location database for the event. In addition, the processingsystem may charge a user account or may direct a device of the user to apayment processing system to complete the transaction, or the like.

At optional step 345, the processing system may deploy at least one AAVto the viewing location that is selected by the user. For instance, inone example, the selection of step 335 may not result in a reservationof the viewing location, but may instead cause an AAV to be dispatchedto the viewing location. For instance, the viewing location selectioninterface of step 330 may be provided via a terminal outside the eventvenue and/or may be via a mobile device of the user when the mobiledevice is determined to be already at or within the event venue.

At optional step 350, the processing system may obtain current viewinginformation of at least one position at the viewing location, e.g., viaa live feed from the AAV.

At optional step 355, the processing system may providing the currentviewing information to the user via the viewing location selectioninterface. In one example, if the user is satisfied with this seatselection (e.g., as indicated by the decision step 360: “viewinglocation accepted?”), the method may proceed to optional step 340.Otherwise, the method may proceed back to step 330 or to step 395.

Following step 340 or one of optional steps 345 or 355, the method 300may proceed to step 395. At step 395, the method 300 ends.

It should be noted that the method 300 may be expanded to includeadditional steps, or may be modified to replace steps with differentsteps, to combine steps, to omit steps, to perform steps in a differentorder, and so forth. For instance, in one example, the processing systemmay repeat one or more steps of the method 300, such as step 330 fordifferent viewing locations, steps 325-340 for different users, etc. Invarious other examples, the method 300 may further include or may bemodified to comprise aspects of any of the above-described examples inconnection with FIGS. 1 and 2 , or as otherwise described in the presentdisclosure. Thus, these and other modifications are all contemplatedwithin the scope of the present disclosure.

In addition, although not expressly specified above, one or more stepsof the method 300 may include a storing, displaying and/or outputtingstep as required for a particular application. In other words, any data,records, fields, and/or intermediate results discussed in the method canbe stored, displayed and/or outputted to another device as required fora particular application. Furthermore, operations, steps, or blocks inFIG. 3 that recite a determining operation or involve a decision do notnecessarily require that both branches of the determining operation bepracticed. In other words, one of the branches of the determiningoperation can be deemed as an optional step. However, the use of theterm “optional step” is intended to only reflect different variations ofa particular illustrative embodiment and is not intended to indicatethat steps not labelled as optional steps to be deemed to be essentialsteps. Furthermore, operations, steps or blocks of the above describedmethod(s) can be combined, separated, and/or performed in a differentorder from that described above, without departing from the exampleembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computing system 400(e.g., a computing device or processing system) specifically programmedto perform the functions described herein. For example, any one or morecomponents, devices, and/or systems illustrated in FIG. 1 or describedin connection with FIG. 2 or 3 , may be implemented as the computingsystem 400. As depicted in FIG. 4 , the computing system 400 comprises ahardware processor element 402 (e.g., comprising one or more hardwareprocessors, which may include one or more microprocessor(s), one or morecentral processing units (CPUs), and/or the like, where the hardwareprocessor element 402 may also represent one example of a “processingsystem” as referred to herein), a memory 404, (e.g., random accessmemory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), a disk drive, an optical drive, amagnetic drive, and/or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive), a module 405for collecting via an autonomous aerial vehicle viewing information fora plurality of positions for a plurality of viewing locations within anevent venue and presenting a viewing location selection interface thatprovides a simulated view with respect to at least one of the pluralityof positions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations,based upon the viewing information that is obtained, and variousinput/output devices 406, e.g., a camera, a video camera, storagedevices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, ahard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, aspeaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port, and a userinput device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, and the like).

Although only one hardware processor element 402 is shown, the computingsystem 400 may employ a plurality of hardware processor elements.Furthermore, although only one computing device is shown in FIG. 4 , ifthe method(s) as discussed above is implemented in a distributed orparallel manner for a particular illustrative example, e.g., the stepsof the above method(s) or the entire method(s) are implemented acrossmultiple or parallel computing devices, then the computing system 400 ofFIG. 4 may represent each of those multiple or parallel computingdevices. Furthermore, one or more hardware processor elements (e.g.,hardware processor element 402) can be utilized in supporting avirtualized or shared computing environment. The virtualized computingenvironment may support one or more virtual machines which may beconfigured to operate as computers, servers, or other computing devices.In such virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such ashardware processors and computer-readable storage devices may bevirtualized or logically represented. The hardware processor element 402can also be configured or programmed to cause other devices to performone or more operations as discussed above. In other words, the hardwareprocessor element 402 may serve the function of a central controllerdirecting other devices to perform the one or more operations asdiscussed above.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logicarray (PLA), including a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or astate machine deployed on a hardware device, a computing device, or anyother hardware equivalents, e.g., computer-readable instructionspertaining to the method(s) discussed above can be used to configure oneor more hardware processor elements to perform the steps, functionsand/or operations of the above disclosed method(s). In one example,instructions and data for the present module 405 for collecting via anautonomous aerial vehicle viewing information for a plurality ofpositions for a plurality of viewing locations within an event venue andpresenting a viewing location selection interface that provides asimulated view with respect to at least one of the plurality ofpositions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations, basedupon the viewing information that is obtained (e.g., a software programcomprising computer-executable instructions) can be loaded into memory404 and executed by hardware processor element 402 to implement thesteps, functions or operations as discussed above in connection with theexample method(s). Furthermore, when a hardware processor elementexecutes instructions to perform operations, this could include thehardware processor element performing the operations directly and/orfacilitating, directing, or cooperating with one or more additionalhardware devices or components (e.g., a co-processor and the like) toperform the operations.

The processor (e.g., hardware processor element 402) executing thecomputer-readable instructions relating to the above described method(s)can be perceived as a programmed processor or a specialized processor.As such, the present module 405 for collecting via an autonomous aerialvehicle viewing information for a plurality of positions for a pluralityof viewing locations within an event venue and presenting a viewinglocation selection interface that provides a simulated view with respectto at least one of the plurality of positions for at least one of theplurality of viewing locations, based upon the viewing information thatis obtained (including associated data structures) of the presentdisclosure can be stored on a tangible or physical (broadlynon-transitory) computer-readable storage device or medium, e.g.,volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROM memory, RAM memory, magneticor optical drive, device or diskette and the like. Furthermore, a“tangible” computer-readable storage device or medium may comprise aphysical device, a hardware device, or a device that is discernible bythe touch. More specifically, the computer-readable storage device ormedium may comprise any physical devices that provide the ability tostore information such as instructions and/or data to be accessed by aprocessor or a computing device such as a computer or an applicationserver.

While various examples have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred example shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described examples, but should bedefined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: collecting, by a processingsystem including at least one processor, via at least one camera of atleast one autonomous aerial vehicle, viewing information for a pluralityof positions for each of a plurality of viewing locations within anevent venue, wherein for each of the plurality of viewing locations, theplurality of positions comprises a plurality of viewing heights, whereineach of the plurality of viewing locations comprises an individualseating location within the event venue, and wherein the viewinginformation comprises at least one captured image for each of theplurality of viewing heights at each of the plurality of viewinglocations; presenting, by the processing system, a viewing locationselection interface to a user, wherein the viewing location selectioninterface provides a simulated view with respect to at least one of theplurality of positions for at least one of the plurality of viewinglocations, wherein the simulated view is based upon the viewinginformation that is obtained, wherein the viewing location selectioninterface includes at least one information zone for indicating aviewing location from among the plurality of viewing locations and aviewing height from among the plurality of viewing heights, wherein thesimulated view is provided for the viewing height at the viewinglocation, and wherein the simulated view is generated from the at leastone captured image for the viewing height at the viewing location;obtaining, by the processing system via the viewing location selectioninterface, a selection from the user of a particular viewing location ofthe plurality of viewing locations for an event at the event venue;deploying, by the processing system, the at least one autonomous aerialvehicle to the particular viewing location that is selected by the user;obtaining, by the processing system from the at least one camera of theat least one autonomous aerial vehicle, current viewing information ofat least one position at the particular viewing location; and providing,by the processing system, the current viewing information to the uservia the viewing location selection interface.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: reserving, by the processing system for the user,the particular viewing location for the event in response to theselection.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, bythe processing system, sizing information from the user according to auser consent.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sizing informationcomprises a height of an occupant for the viewing location.
 5. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the at least one of the plurality ofpositions for the at least one of the plurality of viewing locations isselected for the user in accordance with the sizing information.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the at least one of the plurality ofpositions comprises at least two positions, wherein the at least twopositions comprise a standing height and a calculated seated heightbased on the sizing information.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thesimulated view comprises a simulation of audience members at the event,based upon a plurality of reservations of different viewing locations ofthe plurality of viewing locations within the event venue.
 8. The methodof claim 7, further comprising; obtaining the plurality of reservationsof the different viewing locations.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe obtaining the plurality of reservations includes obtaining sizinginformation of a plurality of audience members associated with theplurality of reservations.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein thesimulated view includes simulated audience members having sizescorresponding to the sizing information of the plurality of audiencemembers.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing aviewing location map of the event venue and instructions to the at leastone autonomous aerial vehicle to collect the viewing information for theplurality of positions for each of the plurality of viewing locationswithin the event venue.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at leastone autonomous aerial vehicle is configured to identify viewinglocations via at least one detection model for processing imaging sensordata and detecting at least one type of viewing location.
 13. The methodof claim 1, wherein the collecting further includes collecting via atleast one microphone of the at least one autonomous aerial vehicle,audio information for at least one of the plurality of positions foreach of the plurality of viewing locations within the event venue. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein the viewing location selection interfacefurther provides the audio information for the at least one of theplurality of viewing locations.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein theevent is in progress.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring instructions which, when executed by a processing systemincluding at least one processor, cause the processing system to performoperations, the operations comprising: collecting, via at least onecamera of at least one autonomous aerial vehicle, viewing informationfor a plurality of positions for each of a plurality of viewinglocations within an event venue, wherein for each of the plurality ofviewing locations, the plurality of positions comprises a plurality ofviewing heights, wherein each of the plurality of viewing locationscomprises an individual seating location within the event venue, andwherein the viewing information comprises at least one captured imagefor each of the plurality of viewing heights at each of the plurality ofviewing locations; presenting a viewing location selection interface toa user, wherein the viewing location selection interface provides asimulated view with respect to at least one of the plurality ofpositions for at least one of the plurality of viewing locations,wherein the simulated view is based upon the viewing information that isobtained, wherein the viewing location selection interface includes atleast one information zone for indicating a viewing location from amongthe plurality of viewing locations and a viewing height from among theplurality of viewing heights, wherein the simulated view is provided forthe viewing height at the viewing location, and wherein the simulatedview is generated from the at least one captured image for the viewingheight at the viewing location; obtaining, via the viewing locationselection interface, a selection from the user of a particular viewinglocation of the plurality of viewing locations for an event at the eventvenue; deploying the at least one autonomous aerial vehicle to theparticular viewing location that is selected by the user; obtaining,from the at least one camera of the at least one autonomous aerialvehicle, current viewing information of at least one position at theparticular viewing location; and providing the current viewinginformation to the user via the viewing location selection interface.17. An apparatus comprising: a processing system including at least oneprocessor; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions which,when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system toperform operations, the operations comprising: collecting, via at leastone camera of at least one autonomous aerial vehicle, viewinginformation for a plurality of positions for each of a plurality ofviewing locations within an event venue, wherein for each of theplurality of viewing locations, the plurality of positions comprises aplurality of viewing heights, wherein each of the plurality of viewinglocations comprises an individual seating location within the eventvenue, and wherein the viewing information comprises at least onecaptured image for each of the plurality of viewing heights at each ofthe plurality of viewing locations; presenting a viewing locationselection interface to a user, wherein the viewing location selectioninterface provides a simulated view with respect to at least one of theplurality of positions for at least one of the plurality of viewinglocations, wherein the simulated view is based upon the viewinginformation that is obtained, wherein the viewing location selectioninterface includes at least one information zone for indicating aviewing location from among the plurality of viewing locations and aviewing height from among the plurality of viewing heights, wherein thesimulated view is provided for the viewing height at the viewinglocation, and wherein the simulated view is generated from the at leastone captured image for the viewing height at the viewing location;obtaining, via the viewing location selection interface, a selectionfrom the user of a particular viewing location of the plurality ofviewing locations for an event at the event venue; deploying the atleast one autonomous aerial vehicle to the particular viewing locationthat is selected by the user; obtaining, from the at least one camera ofthe at least one autonomous aerial vehicle, current viewing informationof at least one position at the particular viewing location; andproviding the current viewing information to the user via the viewinglocation selection interface.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, theoperations further comprising: reserving for the user the particularviewing location for the event in response to the selection.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:obtaining sizing information from the user according to a user consent.20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the sizing information comprisesa height of an occupant for the viewing location.